Shadow Empire

Chapter 1226 The Last Lunch
Lance had just finished a hearty and delicious breakfast, while Christopher woke up in the back seat of the car.

Some noise woke him from his sleep. He looked up and saw something hopping around on the roof of the car, probably birds.

Only then did he remember what had happened the night before.

He got up and saw his brother-in-law sleeping with his head tilted back in the driver's seat. He pushed open the door and went out, the cold wind making him shiver.

He hunched his shoulders and quickly ran to the roadside, glancing into the distance. The flashing police lights and the police officers directing oncoming vehicles to stop were still there.

"Egg!"

"Shet!"

The events of last night resurfaced in his mind, and he couldn't help but burst into a tirade of curses.

He took out a cigarette, lit one for himself, then crossed his arms and climbed back into the car.

After they escaped from the scene, Christopher gave his brother-in-law an order: to immediately leave the area along the interstate highway, go to other places, and find a way out in cities that Lance might not have yet set foot in, so as to leave the Federation completely.

This damn place can't be left anywhere; who knows when Lance will kill him.

At the same time, he also had a question in his mind: who betrayed them?
Is he the captain of the smuggling ship?

He didn't think so, because the captain of the smuggling ship had never wanted to do business with him, considering him a nuisance.

If the other party betrays him... what benefits will he gain?
He couldn't guarantee that he wasn't betrayed by the smuggling ship captain, but he also couldn't guarantee that it was definitely the other party.

Besides the smuggling ship captain, there was one other person who knew this location.

He glanced at his brother-in-law, who was rubbing his eyes, and temporarily hid his thoughts.

"It's dawn?" The brother-in-law turned and glanced at Christopher. "What do we do now?"

Their original plan last night was to leave this place along the interstate highway, but they had only driven a short distance when they saw highway police conducting a checkpoint inspection. There was no doubt that this was a checkpoint set up by Lance, just like when the police stopped them when they tried to board the ship.

Christopher didn't dare take the risk, nor did he dare let his brother-in-law drive to try it out, because if his brother-in-law were arrested and he lost the car, he would be completely helpless.

So he had his brother-in-law drive the car off the intercontinental highway and stop it at an open area that served as a vehicle supply depot, where they made do for the night.

I thought these police officers would leave this morning, but it looks like they won't be leaving anytime soon.

"The checkpoint is still there, let's head straight back to the city."

"There are only the two of us now, which is too few people and too dangerous."

"Besides some money, we have nothing else on us. I'm almost out of bullets, and I don't know what will happen next. We need to make sure we're safe before we can think about how to get out of here."

His brother-in-law seemed hesitant to speak, which inexplicably irritated Christopher. "It's just the two of us now, so just say what you have to say!"

The brother-in-law glanced at Christopher, who was growing increasingly agitated, and at his impatient gaze, before finally saying softly, "What I mean is... how about we don't consider leaving for now? They clearly had the chance to stop us from leaving last night, but they still let us go."

"Think about it carefully, they've been attacking us all this time, but they haven't caused you any direct harm..."

"Fuck, shut up!" Christopher's temper was hard to control once it flared up. He slammed his fist on the driver's seat. "You call this no direct harm?"

"I almost couldn't leave last night!"

“Listen, brother, I escaped disaster not because they chose to let me go, but because God favored me and didn’t want to see me!”

"He doesn't want to see me, but I can't just offer myself up to him, understand?"

"Now drive back, take your weapons and some men, and we'll find a way to leave via a side road, understand?"

His brother-in-law's eyes were wide open as he raised his hands slightly to indicate his surrender. "No problem, I'll do as you say."

He turned the car key, started the car, and drove straight across the center line toward the city.

Before long, their car appeared outside the manor. At this time, the people inside the manor also noticed them, and immediately some people rushed out and surrounded the car.

"Didn't you already leave?"

Christopher walked toward the room with a livid face, wanting to tidy himself up, while his brother-in-law explained the situation to the remaining cadres outside.

When they heard that everyone except the two of them was stranded on the beach, everyone's expression became slightly strange.

Christopher escaped and returned, but the fate of the others is unknown. This event, connected with previous events, gives one a very strange feeling.

It was as if the entire gang was having a run of bad luck—the goods were seized, the people were arrested, and the money couldn't be collected. Only Christopher kept escaping the crisis, as if... he was the one who caused it.

While they remained silent, Christopher, having changed his clothes, came downstairs carrying a briefcase containing a submachine gun, a semi-automatic pistol, several boxes of ammunition, and some cash.

"Does anyone want to leave with me?"

Everyone in the hall stood up, but no one spoke, which made Christopher feel very insecure!
After the ambush last night, he is now filled with fear and disgust at the thought of going out alone.

“I need some people to leave with me…” he added.

But those people remained silent. His emotions were already unstable, and this provocation only made them more volatile. He put down his suitcase and went into the living room, first shoving his brother-in-law, then shoving the others. "Wang Defa?"

Why aren't you all saying anything?

"Fuck, do you guys have a problem with me?"

The brother-in-law forced a smile. "I think we need to figure out the situation now, figure out how to leave, instead of blindly trying."

"Otherwise, what price will we have to pay to escape this time?"

Upon hearing this statement, which was almost a self-accusation, Christopher glared fiercely at his brother-in-law. However, he also knew that those around him who remained silent were actually on his brother-in-law's side.

He quickly realized what was happening, and his expression calmed down considerably.

He put down his suitcase and ran his fingers through his hair. "You're right, I was too nervous."

The others looked at each other, though they didn't know what had made Christopher calm down all of a sudden, but it was ultimately a good thing.

"What are you planning to do next?" Christopher asked.

His brother-in-law thought for a moment, "Let's figure out exactly what they want first."

Christopher eventually returned to his room with his suitcase. Everyone could tell that something was wrong with him, but he didn't explode like before. Instead, he gave off an unsettling feeling.

It's like a child who throws tantrums and breaks things when he gets angry. Although his personality is bad and his behavior is also bad, it's not hard to predict his future behavior.

But now that the child who used to throw things has stopped, people can still feel his anger building up, which makes people a little confused and even uneasy.

If he doesn't smash things, then what does he plan to do?
That's how Christopher is now; he doesn't lose his temper anymore, and people actually think that's not a good thing.

After everyone watched him leave, the others asked, "What do we do now?"

The brother-in-law sat back on the sofa. He was also very tired these past two days. He closed his eyes and said, "We need to figure out how they knew our whereabouts."

He was eager to know the answer, but the answer was actually quite simple: someone had been watching them all along.

As Christopher and his brother-in-law drove back, someone called the person in charge of the matter and Christopher returned to the estate.

Lance simply told everyone to follow the plan, and Francisco also arrived in the city. Christopher didn't have much time left before his final moments.

If Lance hadn't wanted to make him feel despair before he died, and if he hadn't agreed to Francisco's request to personally take care of Christopher, Christopher might already be nothing but a skeleton by now.

Letting him live a few more days is a kind of mercy!
Christopher was unaware of these things; their intelligence network was somewhat outdated, and no one had even informed them that Lance had arrived in South Yaan State.

He was also unaware that his cousin Francisco had arrived there as well.

After returning to his room, he sat on the bed, but all he could think about was how those people downstairs had looked at him.

There wasn't a shred of respect in their eyes; he could even sense mockery and disdain in some of them!
These sons of bitches and bastards!
We can't stay here any longer!

He wasn't sure if his whereabouts being exposed had anything to do with his brother-in-law, but he no longer wanted to stay there. His authority was being questioned, and his orders to the cadres were no longer effective.

His brother-in-law, on the contrary, gained the support of those people and stayed here, in this house. Rather than protecting his safety, Christopher felt it was more like... imprisonment, control!

He wouldn't sit here waiting for misfortune and death to come; he needed to leave quietly, to leave the Federation.

The last few times I ran away with people, all sorts of unexpected things happened. This time, I'm not taking anyone with me!

When people encounter setbacks, especially repeated setbacks, they will subconsciously question their choices and even develop feelings of self-doubt.

Christopher is a rather selfish person. He doesn't deny himself, but he does wonder if his constant setbacks are due to someone betraying him.

He was originally very uneasy about acting alone, but now he seemed to feel that only by acting alone could he finally escape his misfortune and truly get away.

He spent the next two days looking for an opportunity, which soon appeared before him.

Because they are currently short of manpower, although one of their largest bars has been shut down, there are still two smaller bars operating, as well as several warehouses with about one to two million worth of goods piled up inside.

This is also why some people are reluctant to leave; if Christopher leaves, these properties and wines will essentially fall into their hands.

They were already short-handed, and now their brother-in-law is mobilizing some of their men to investigate other matters, which naturally makes them even more short-handed.

During the day, there are only about twenty people on the entire estate protecting Christopher's safety, including about half of the peripheral members.

Christopher chose the perfect moment and drove out the car through the side door almost unnoticed.

He breathed a heavy sigh of relief the moment his car merged into the traffic.

If he can still be discovered or caught in his current state...

Hope not.

What he didn't know was that the moment he drove out of the side door, at least two cars followed him.

When Lance learned of this, he didn't handle it himself. He was still with the state government, so he told Francisco directly about it and let him make the decision.

He was just a man destined to die. It didn't matter who killed Christopher—himself or Francisco.

Francisco became excited upon hearing the news; he had been looking forward to this day for a very long time.

Christopher was unaware that from the moment he secretly left the manor, he had already willingly jumped into an abyss!

Instead of leaving immediately, he left his car in a parking lot and hailed a taxi with his bag on his back, heading to a local middle-class community.

He has a friend who lives here, and he plans to hide himself away for a while.

His brothers-in-law knew he would be searching for him everywhere after he was a child, so they sent him to distract Lance and his men. Once they were all killed, he could then sneak away.

That way, we can do it quietly.

He arrived at the door of this friend he knew. They knew each other because Christopher had helped this guy on Sumuli Island. Perhaps he was in a good mood that day and lent a helping hand, so the two were considered friends.

He stood at the door and rang the doorbell for a while. The door opened a crack, and the person inside looked surprised and delighted when they saw him through the crack.

"My God, you didn't tell me you were coming!"

The man of the house quickly opened the door, and his family members curiously peeked out from the living room.

The host welcomed him into the room, saying, "We're about to have lunch, you must be starving. You can try my wife's cooking."

As he spoke, he introduced Christopher to his family, saying, "When I went back to my hometown, I ran into trouble. A thief stole my purse, and it was Mr. Christopher who helped me find the thief and get my purse back!"

His child exclaimed "Wow!" and couldn't help but ask, "Then you must be a very important person!"

Christopher met the child's bright gaze, and his mood improved. "Perhaps I really am the important person you imagine?"

He couldn't help but chuckle after he finished speaking. He didn't know why, but he felt particularly relaxed now. As long as he left the manor, away from his brother-in-law and those cadres who seemed less willing to listen to him, his mood improved.

In fact, this is related to his sense of security. He certainly wouldn't feel secure with people who have made him question them or whom he doesn't trust.

How can he laugh if he doesn't feel secure?

But it's different here. These people don't really know who he is, what predicament he's facing, or many other things.

Conversely, Christopher knows some things about them and can even control the situation here.

He had absolute control here, so he had no worries at all. He felt safe, and his mood improved.

He is someone who is overly dependent on security, and he feels very good right now.

"I'm passing through here on my way to the Federation, and I might bother you while I'm visiting you."

The host seemed very enthusiastic. Sumuli people always show their warmth to those who have helped them. "This is not an intrusion. I am honored, Mr. Christopher."

“Call me Dover!” Christopher corrected his form of address. “What I meant by ‘bother’ was that I would like to stay here for a few days.”

The host paused for a moment, somewhat surprised, but still agreed, "I didn't ask about providing rooms. We have extra guest rooms, but I don't know if you'll be able to get used to them."

He didn't really want to agree, but considering that Christopher had helped him and was probably from one of the four major families, he reluctantly agreed.

Christopher could sense his slight resistance, but he didn't care much. He took out a bunch of bills from his pocket, counted out a hundred dollars, and handed it over. "This is for my room and food for the next few days."

"To tell you the truth, I've run into a little trouble, but I promise I won't bring it here. It'll be at most three days, and I'll leave after that."

The two spoke in hushed tones, the man knowing that Christopher didn't want to disturb his wife and family.

He glanced at the banknotes in Christopher's hand, but ultimately accepted the money. "I've paid back what I owed you."

Christopher was delighted. "Now it's my turn to owe you a favor!"

The two then went to the living room, where Christopher introduced himself to the other members of the family, before they went to the dining room.

Today's lunch was plentiful because it's the weekend and the family is spending time together, so there will be plenty of food both at noon and in the evening.

Just as they were eating and chatting, the doorbell rang.

The husband turned back in surprise to look at the front door, while his wife had already gotten up and was walking towards it, saying as she went, "Let me see who's there..."

Christopher put down his knife and fork, reached his right hand into his pocket, and stared toward the door.

(End of this chapter)